NBA lawsuit: what two class actions claim and who could get paid

What the NBA lawsuits are about

This page covers two unrelated consumer class actions against NBA entities. Karnas v. National Basketball Association, Inc. grew out of Voyager, a crypto platform that declared bankruptcy on July 5, 2022. Yee v. NBA Properties, Inc. is a privacy case about the nba.com website. A proposed class action is a lawsuit filed on behalf of a group before a judge has agreed the group can proceed together, so nobody is formally "in" either class yet. For the mechanics, see our guide to how a class action works.

Karnas v. NBA: the Voyager crypto lawsuit

Dominik Karnas and other plaintiffs filed the complaint on February 6, 2024 in federal court in Miami against law firm McCarter & English and the NBA. They say the NBA acted as a gatekeeper that had to approve team sponsorships, and that it was grossly negligent when it approved the Voyager and Dallas Mavericks "Global Partnership" signed on October 29, 2021, under which Voyager would pay the Mavericks between $4 million and $5 million a year. The plaintiffs argue that promotion helped steer customers into Voyager accounts and tokens that they call unregistered securities, and they put customers' losses from the collapse at $4.2 billion. Their claims against the NBA rely on New Jersey and Florida securities and consumer protection laws, and they ask for damages, restitution and fees.

The NBA has not been found liable. When the suit was filed it did not immediately respond to CBS News, and in the Florida court it argued the case should stay paused until the claims against Mark Cuban and the Mavericks were finally resolved. That related case was dismissed on December 26, 2025 for lack of personal jurisdiction, which is not a ruling on the merits.

Yee v. NBA Properties: the nba.com tracking lawsuit

This proposed class action says visitors to nba.com are tracked by tools from Google, Amplitude and others while they browse schedules, tickets, player information and highlights. The plaintiff's core theory is about the cookie banner: it lets people opt out of tracking cookies, but the lawsuit says trackers load as soon as you land on the page and some, such as session recording, canvas fingerprinting and pixels, may keep running after an opt-out. The claims include the California Invasion of Privacy Act, the federal Wiretap Act, California's Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, the California Constitution's privacy provision and California's Unfair Competition Law, according to a Robinson & Cole summary.

The case was removed from a state court to federal court in Northern California on July 29, 2026. The articles we could open don't give the filing date, the original state court or the NBA's response. Sites often argue that their terms send disputes to arbitration; our guide explains what an arbitration clause is.

Who is in the proposed NBA classes

In Karnas, the proposed nationwide class is anyone in the United States who, within the limitations period, bought, invested or deposited more money in a Voyager Earn Program Account or bought or invested in VGX tokens. The complaint also proposes Florida and New Jersey subclasses as alternatives. In Yee, the allegations concern people who visited nba.com, but the sources we could open don't state the class definition, so don't assume you are covered because you have used the site.

Being a possible class member doesn't entitle you to anything. A judge has to certify a class first, and money only follows a settlement or a verdict. To see how membership is decided, read how to check if you're part of a class action.

Where the NBA lawsuits stand now

In Karnas, the Florida judge stayed the case in February 2024 while the related Cuban case played out. Once that case was dismissed, the judge severed the claims on July 28, 2026, sending the NBA and Ketchum claims to the Southern District of New York, the McCarter & English claims to New Jersey and the claims against Tracy McGrady to Texas. In the Florida court the NBA and Ketchum had said New York was the right place for them. We found no ruling on the merits against the NBA in either case, no certified class and no settlement involving the NBA.

What could happen next

In cases like these the defendant typically asks the court to dismiss or narrow the claims, and in privacy cases it may try to send the dispute to arbitration. If claims survive, the sides exchange evidence, plaintiffs ask the judge to certify a class, and the case ends in dismissal, a settlement or, rarely, a trial. Cases like these commonly take a year or more to get through the opening motions alone. If a class is certified, the road to payment starts there. Separately, the Florida order mentions a preliminarily approved settlement with a different defendant, Matthew Barkley; it doesn't involve the NBA, and we haven't reviewed its terms.

Could you get paid from an NBA lawsuit?

Not today. There is no settlement, no fund, no administrator and no claim form for either case. If that changes, a court-approved notice would come by email or mail with a deadline and an official claim site, and filing directly would be free. Until then, if you invested in Voyager, keep your account statements and tax records; if you use nba.com, there is nothing to gather. Ignore any message offering an "NBA settlement" claim. Our guides on getting notified of settlements and spotting settlement scams cover what real notices look like.

If either case ever settles, Owed can flag it, explain it in plain English, open the official claim form, remind you before the deadline and track your claim to payout, while you submit the claim yourself. Owed Pro is $2 for the first week, then $49 per year — one flat membership. Owed never takes a percentage of any payout. You can check what you qualify for or browse the open settlements directory.

This is general information, not legal advice. Owed is not a law firm or a settlement administrator; courts decide who is in a class and whether anyone gets paid.

Glossary

Proposed class action

A lawsuit filed for a group of people before a judge has decided the group can proceed together. Membership is not final until a class is certified.

Class certification

The judge's decision that a case can go forward for a whole group. We found no sign that either NBA case has reached this step.

Removal

Moving a case from a state court to a federal court, which happened in the Yee case on July 29, 2026.

Sever and transfer

Splitting claims against different defendants into separate cases and sending each to another court, as the Florida judge did with the Karnas claims.

Unregistered security

An investment product that must be registered with regulators but wasn't. The Voyager plaintiffs say its accounts and tokens were.

Arbitration clause

A term in a site's or company's terms that sends disputes to private arbitration instead of court, which defendants often invoke in privacy cases.

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